Related papers: Open and Unoriented Strings from Topological Membr…

We study topological open membranes of BF type in a manifest BV formalism. Our main interest is the effect of the bulk deformations on the algebra of boundary operators. This forms a homotopy Lie algebra, which can be understood in terms of…

Generally, open string boundary conditions play a nontrivial role in string theory. For example, in the presence of an antisymmetric tensor background field, they will lead the spacetime coordinates noncommutative. In this paper, we mainly…

We review for non-experts possible phenomenological scenari in String Theory. In particular we focus on vacuum configurations with intersecting and/or magnetized unoriented D-branes. We will show how a TeV scale tension may be compatible…

We describe some recent progress in understanding and formulating string theory which is based on extensive studies of strings in lower (D=2) dimension. At the center is a large $W_{\infty}$ symmetry that appears most simply in the matrix…

This thesis is based on some selected topics in open topological string theory which I have worked on during my Ph.D. It comprises an introductory part where I have focused on the points most needed for the later chapters, trading…

We consider string theory in a time dependent orbifold with a null singularity. The singularity separates a contracting universe from an expanding universe, thus constituting a big crunch followed by a big bang. We quantize the theory both…

The compactness of the closed string in the classical Type II string theory reveals the duality, whereas the compactness of the open string reveals that the end of the string is on the hypersurface which satisfies the Dirichlet boundary…

We discuss the reduction of the open membrane metric and determine the (previously unknown) conformal factor. We also construct SL(2,R) invariant open string metrics and complex open string coupling constants by reducing the open membrane…

We study a topological obstruction of a very stringy nature concerned with deforming the target space of an $N=2$ non-linear \sm. This target space has a singularity which may be smoothed away according to the conventional rules of geometry…

The open topological string partition function in the background of a D-brane on a Calabi-Yau threefold specifies a state in the Hilbert space associated with the quantization of the underlying special geometry. This statement is a…

In this paper we study the string topology (\'a la Chas-Sullivan) of an orbifold. We define the string homology ring product at the level of the free loop space of the classifying space of an orbifold. We study its properties (introducing…

The homology of a 2-colored dioperad of decorated Riemann surfaces, relevant to open-closed string field theory, is computed. The structure it describes is realized in an open-closed setting of string topology via an action at the level of…

We revisit T-duality transformations for the open string via Buscher's procedure and work-out technical details which have been missing so far in the literature. We take into account non-trivial topologies of the world-sheet, we consider…

In this thesis we discuss some nonperturbative and noncommutative aspects of string theory. We present low-energy background field solutions corresponding to various D-branes (and their bound states) and intersecting branes in flat and…

We study superstrings with orientifold projections and with generalized open string boundary conditions (D-branes). We find two types of consistency condition, one related to the algebra of Chan-Paton factors and the other to cancellation…

In a recent work, Tachikawa and Zhang proved the existence of a discrete topological term in the unique non-supersymmetric heterotic string with no tachyons in ten dimensions. This theory features NS5-branes, whose chiral degrees of freedom…

If the vacuum manifold of a field theory has the appropriate topological structure, the theory admits topological structures analogous to the D-branes of string theory, in which defects of one dimension terminate on other defects of higher…

The past year has seen enormous progress in string theory. It has become clear that all of the different string theories are different limits of a single theory. Moreover, in certain limits, one obtains a new, eleven-dimensional structure…

Orientifolds of the type IIB superstring that descend from F theory and M theory orbifolds are studied perturbatively. One finds strong evidence that a previously ignored twisted open string is required in these models. An attempt is made…

We clarify some aspects of the map between the c=1 string theory at self-dual radius and the topologically twisted cigar at level one. We map the ZZ and FZZT D-branes in the c=1 string theory at self dual radius to the localized and…